Beyond connecting the dots, empowering tomorrow’s innovators

Swiss students indeed have access to one of the best education systems in the world. However, it’s imperative to gain international exposure to excel in an interconnected world. Committed to empowering tomorrow’s innovators, ETH Zurich, the School of Management & Engineering Vaud (HEIG-VD), Gebert Ruef Stiftung and swissnex India joined hands, to provide exposure to engineering problems beyond what’s available in Switzerland. The ‘India Industry Internship’ (III) program was launched to unveil the tremendous potential that India has in alternate engineering culture and frugal innovation. swissnex’s strong connections paved the way to bring together the young talents in Switzerland and the experts in the field of robotics and automation in India, offering the students access to mass manufacturing processes that are usually unavailable for prototypes.

In 2017, five Swiss students successfully completed their internships with our Indian partners Achira Labs, Pors & Rao, Qrera Technologies and Systemantics. Though the prime focus of the program was to provide the Swiss students with hands-on experience with Indian machine shops and inter-cultural exposure, III also had unexpected outcomes: Jérémy Michaud, an HEIG-VD student, interned with Qrera Technologies under the mentorship of CEO Amod Hulge. Not only did Jérémy make remarkable contributions towards innovating over efficiency in the working of rainbow guns for 3D printers, but also was instrumental in establishing them as an electronics development partner with Terrettaz, the company he was working for in Switzerland creating smart home solutions. While Jérémy returned home with a great experience, Qrera and Terrettaz have a signed up for an interesting collaboration ahead.

Here’s to catalysing collaborations and co-creating tomorrow!

Hear from Jeremy about his India experience More

“What I really liked about India was the importance given to innovation and the ability of Indians to find simple solution to problems. They can often find a way with limited resources and the result is as good as the ones obtained through traditional methods. On a personal front too, the changes I underwent were significant. My family and friends would agree that I gained a lot of self confidence and independence.

I recommend it to anyone who wants to experience something different. If you want to get out of your comfort zone and discover a new culture full of exciting things with a big place for innovation and engineering, this is the program for you.” – Jérémy Michaud

Swissnex

Swiss Confederation

Federal Department of Economic Affairs,
Education and Research EAER
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI